Bird's-eye view of The Silks, luxury lots to be developed close to downtown, the airport and Keeneland

The Silks development on Versailles Road includes 13 luxury lots, trees that may be centuries old, elaborate fountains and a historic house that the Kentucky Historical Society has dubbed the "John Clay House."

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The Silks development on Versailles Road includes 13 luxury lots, trees that may be centuries old, elaborate fountains and a historic house that the Kentucky Historical Society has dubbed the "John Clay House."

The lots are close to downtown and Calumet Farm, but with country luxury. Meet The Silks.

On Versailles Road, across the street from historic Calumet Farm, lots in a new development are for sale.

The Silks includes 13 luxury lots, trees that may be centuries old and elaborate fountains.

At 3300 Versailles Road, lots in the development formally went up for sale on May 1. Two are under contract, said John Faust. He and Robert Easley are developing the property. Prices start at just under $300,000 for 1/2 an acre and go up to $355,000.

At the center of the property is a historic house that the now defunct Kentucky Heritage Commission has apparently incorrectly dubbed the "John Clay House."

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The 19th century statesman Henry Clay had a son named John, but John Clay had nothing to do with "The White House" off Versailles Road, according to Eric Brooks, curator at Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate. It's more likely the the house was built by Charles Donald Clay, a grandson of Henry Clay, in the early 1900s, Brook said.

Henry Clay's property is closer to downtown at Ashland, a National Historic Landmark, off Richmond Road.

The large, historic home at The Silks includes a floor of Tennessee black marble and a sunroom addition. There is also a billiards room, black granite counters and a full small barroom in the kitchen.

Walls are painted in electric turquoise by a recent owner, but the main house is getting its exterior rehabbed in the next few weeks, said Faust and Easley. Some of the wood needs replacing and painting, and someone inexplicably put a stucco centerpiece across the front of the house.

The partners had hoped that the city would purchase some of the land for an entrance to its 130-acre proposed soccer park, but that project seems to have stalled, Faust said.

Home designs for the property will need to pass muster before being allowed to build, the men agreed.

"We don't want cookie-cutter houses out here," Easley said. "We want to see different houses. ... We want to look nice and timeless back here."

The emphasis should be on "brick and stone that are better looking the older they get," Faust said.

More than 60 mature trees surround the street for the development, dubbed Winner's Circle. They include sycamores over 50 feet on the two front lots and a 40-foot ginkgo tree in the front law of the historic house. An American beech tree waves gently over one lot, its leaves looking maroon from a distance.

Near the Versailles Road entrance, with its slick black and gold gates, will be a pond fueled by a freshwater spring on the adjoining property that the men also own. Faust hopes to be able to give residents free irrigation water, and noted that the area is particularly green, he thinks because of the extra water flowing around the spring.

"I didn't want to show people the property until it was in full bloom," Faust said., "I've had a lot of interest. There's nothing else like it in this area of town."

If you'd like to see the home, the Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency Decorators' Showcase will be held there in the fall. Updates will be posted at www.ombuddy.org.